A mesh network can be implemented as a wired or wireless communication network of various fixed and/or mobile devices that are commonly referred to as “nodes” of the mesh network. Each of the node devices can receive and communicate data throughout the mesh network, such as throughout a college campus, metropolitan area, community network, and across other geographic areas. A node device can also function to route data from one node to another within the mesh network. In addition, each node typically has more than one communication link to and/or from other nodes of the network, which provides for redundant communication links and a reliable communication system.
A wireless mesh network can include various wireless clients and devices implemented for wireless communication utilizing a data packet routing protocol. For example, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Standard 802.11s describes Mesh Networking for wireless communications over a wireless local-area-network (WLAN). A wireless mesh network can also be implemented for data communication with other networks that are communicatively linked to the mesh network, such as with another wireless network, wired network, wide-area-network (WAN), and the like.
In a wireless mesh network, communication links are formed between the various wireless clients and devices that are the nodes of the network. The data packets for wireless communications in the network can be forwarded or routed from a source node (e.g., transmitting device) to a destination node (e.g., receiving device) via intermediate node(s), which are commonly referred to as “hops” in a multi-hop wireless mesh network.
In a conventional implementation of a wireless mesh network, the data packets for wireless communications are queued at an intermediate node in a first-in, first-out (FIFO) buffer queue, and the data packets are then transmitted or forwarded to the next best hop along a communication path with no prioritization of the data packets. The conventional implementation also assumes that the data packets are delivered from a source node to the destination node along a communication path via the various intermediate nodes having the highest data communication bit rate.